Oley Township veterinarian dies on diving excursion off Long Island

An Oley Township veterinarian died of an apparent heart attack during a diving excursion off Long Island, East Hampton officials said Friday.

Dr. Timothy J. Barrow, 64, of the Oley Valley Animal Clinic along Route 73 was surfacing Thursday after a dive to a shipwreck about 60 miles southeast of Montauk when he went into cardiac arrest, said East Hampton police Chief Eddie Ecker.

According to police, Barrow had completed a technical dive to the wreckage of the Norness, a 10,000-ton Norwegian tanker sunk by the Germans in 1942. The vessel is 210 to 280 feet deep in the Atlantic Ocean.

Barrow was seen climbing the anchor line of the dive boat John Jack, but when he surfaced, he was in distress, and became unconscious as crew members were lifting him aboard the boat.

They attempted to revive him but were unsuccessful, police said.

East Hampton police said they are asking anyone with information about the incident to call them at 631-537-7575.

Barrow and his wife, Fiona, bought the clinic in 1986, and he was one of five veterinarians on staff.

Dr. Brandi Fatkin, another veterinarian at the clinic, said Friday that the clinic had no other information.

According to reports, Barrow's death is the second connected to the John Jack in the past week.

On Sunday, 27-year-old Michael LaPrade of Los Angeles was one of three divers descending from the boat to the wreck of the Andrea Doria off Nantucket when he apparently let go of a rope and disappeared.

His body was found about three hours later and the death remains under investigation.

The John Jack is based in Port Pleasant, N.J., but is docked in Montauk for July.